


End Up Here.

by girlwithacinderblockgarden



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Straight up fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4721150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithacinderblockgarden/pseuds/girlwithacinderblockgarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s not sure he has the heart to tell her that her coffee is spilled down her shirt and that she kind of looks like a furious kitten. But he’s willing to try for those eyes to look at him more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	End Up Here.

The first time he sees her, she is yelling. Not at anyone, but rather at her laptop. Together, they are a mass of pink and he's fairly certain he might get scolded strongly should he dare to get in the middle of that fight. At 5'6", she is just short enough to be considered laughably adorable when attempting to intimidate something into her will, but tall enough to scare the living shit out of him when she catches him laughing at her.  
She is all ripped black skinny jeans and converse and thick-framed glasses, but with eyes that knock him off his feet when he gets a glimpse of them. They are swirling mad, but some gorgeous shade of dark green that almost appear brown if they aren't looked at closely enough. But he was. She knocks a strand of dark hair back from her face, hands on her hips, demanding to know what he found so funny.  
He’s not sure he has the heart to tell her that her coffee is spilled down her shirt and that she kind of looks like a furious kitten. But he’s willing to try for those eyes to look at him more. It’s slightly problematic when he opens his mouth and she spins on her heel, huffing and slamming the laptop shut before collapsing into her arms in seeming defeat.  
Considering this is a coffee shop, and he can see a mostly gone iced coffee in the largest size they offer, he swipes it up and orders another for her, and a hot coffee for himself. She is still slumped over when he comes back to her table, and he takes the chance on shaking her slightly so he can press the drink into her hand.  
“You know, your hair is streaked with a feather.”  
“Shit, really? No one told me.”  
The green eyes glare him down, glasses pushed up on her head. She looks simultaneously lethal and precious. He’s fairly sure he’s never been so intrigued by someone at first sight. He’s seen millions of people, but he’s never felt so strongly like he needed to know them.  
“Let’s try this again. I’m Michael.” He sticks his hand out across the table, and she accepts it. This is a start.  
“Gin. You’re not from around here, are you? The accent is a dead giveaway.”  
He chuckles. The accent was rather telling, but so was a guy like him in the small town. From what he had seen, the place was oddly charming, but set in its ways. Management had suggested Atlanta for recording the new album, due to the somewhat still underground nature of the city. But he was tired of the bustle. So he had googled his way into finding the small town He wasn’t really sure why it had stuck out to him, but he’s finding that it was worth it.  
“No, I’m not.” He debates how much he wants to tell her about who he is. There’s a charm in being anonymous for the moment, and he kind of wants to live in that space.  
She purses her lips and looks at him for a moment. There’s a question in her eyes, but he isn’t sure if he wants her to ask.  
She decides for him.  
“Do you want to tell me what an Australian rock star is doing in the middle of nowhere?”  
He groans. “I was hoping I was anonymous.”  
“Not so much.”  
She’s not screaming or hyperventilating, which is a good sign. She’s also not reaching for her Twitter app. Small blessings, he figures.  
“Is it a crime to like your music?” she asks, pushing her glasses down her face and up her nose again. Christ, he’s made her nervous. That wasn’t the desired effect.  
“No, no. I just wanted to be some guy in a coffee shop today. Not a rock star, or someone who would crowd the place out in a matter of minutes from a Twitter blast.”  
She nods, seemingly considering the situation.  
“You don’t seem to be causing any riots right now. So I suppose you’re just Michael right now.”  
Her words are a relief. He smiles broadly, and she blushes.  
“Tell me more about yourself, Gin,” he asks.  
“Well, I’m 22, studying to be a teacher, entirely frustrated by technology at the moment, and fueled largely by coffee. Thanks for the refill, by the way.”  
“You don’t exactly look like the teacher type,” he says, gesturing to her jeans.  
“You don’t exactly look like the kind of guy who would be in a small town Starbucks, chatting up a girl,” she counters.  
He can’t argue with her logic.  
“So, a teacher with a dark side…”  
\--  
The second she can, she dashes to the bathroom, phone in hand, ready to delete her fairly embarrassing tweets. She’s still in a little bit of disbelief that he walked into her Starbucks, but she’s managed to keep her cool. She’s fairly certain that she knows where this is going, but she doesn’t want to have anything come up should someone decide to go stalking through her profile. As the notifications come up that she’s successfully deleted the posts referring to him as a cinnamon roll and a life-ruiner, she breathes a sigh of relief.  
He asks for her number, first, which is a blessing. She exchanges it for his, and he leaves the shop with a smile, promising to call her that night.  
He keeps his word, surprisingly. And they’re up too late in the night talking, finding out more about each other, and agreeing to see each other again soon.  
He asks for her Twitter handle, slipping her into his follows with a little bit of misdirection.  
She almost dies of embarrassment when he sends her a screenshot she had forgotten about before she really knew who the band was in which she called him Baby Gerard Way. He has a good laugh about it before promising that he won’t hold it against her.  
\--  
Their first date is a bit of a disaster. She had warned him that she was clumsy to the extreme, but until she had manages to fall face first into the aisle of the bowling alley, he doesn't believe her. So the emergency room is the surprising place that they hold hands for the first time, squeezing his fingers while they stitch up her chin.  
"I don't think I could imagine anything more punk rock than stitches on the first date," he tells her as they're leaving. Their hands haven't left each other's since she started whimpering at the sight of the needle.  
"Oh, really?" she asks, and surprises him by kissing him soundly on the lips.  
He's sputtering slightly from surprise and excitement.  
"Punk rock, okay, yes."  
She grabs his hand and takes him to the car, driving him off toward a local hole in the wall pizza place. Her cheeks are stained red from her bold move, but his fingers keep hers locked in his hand, unable to shy away from him. They order the most ridiculous slices they can find on the menu, and he tells her about his first set of stitches.  
She finds herself lost in his smile, and he thinks he might have had his last first date. But things aren’t for sure. They’ll have to keep at this to find out.  
\--  
It’s on their third date that he finds out about her hidden talent. She is wickedly gifted with a camera. They have gone into Atlanta to explore the High, and she’s toting around a bag that’s far too large to be practical for the situation. The exhibits enthrall her, and he is lost in the passion he’s seeing in her eyes. Her camera is hopping up to her eyes every two seconds, and she’s capturing everything about this day, including him.  
Photographs come with the territory of being in a band, but he’s never liked them too much. But when she turns her lens on him, he feels comfortable. He makes silly faces, flips her off, and gets too close for comfort.  
She’s reviewing her shots at a coffee shop late in the afternoon. He’s got a casual arm looped over her shoulder, and he’s half paying attention to her, half scrolling through the thousands of notifications in his Twitter app. She seems to have stalled on a picture, and he looks over, tightening his grip on her.  
It’s one of the best pictures of him he’s seen. He isn’t looking at the camera, but he looks happy. Not in the way that he usually looks on stage, but in a way that he can tell she’s seeing down into his soul, and his soul is finally at rest.  
“Can I have that one for my social media pages?” he asks quietly, pressing a kiss into her temple.  
She looks at him skeptically.  
“Your photography is really good, Ginny. I want to show it off.”  
There’s an unspoken understanding that he wants to show her off, but he isn’t quite ready to invite the world into his business. Letting everyone know about their relationship would be a tsunami, and what they have is still new enough that he feels the need to protect it. They’re lucky enough to have not been caught by any photographers, yet. They’re taking a chance being out in the city today, but there’s a reason they’re tucked into the back corner of the shop and facing away from everyone.  
“I guess so…” she agrees.  
It’s a matter of hours between getting the photos to him and her Twitter account blowing up. There were photos circulating the Internet of them that afternoon. Someone had identified her, and while they had been careful to not show affection in public, there were still shots of her from far away taking Michael’s picture that afternoon.  
He decides to take the matter into his own hands. He tweets her photo, tagging her in it, and simply crediting her with a great afternoon and a great shot. She replies with a smiley face, and closes the app thereafter. A text from him lights up her screen, and it’s the words she needed to hear.  
“See? I told you people would love your work.”  
\--  
To keep up appearances, she tags along to the studio and some rehearsals, camera in tow and with plenty of space between herself and Michael. They boys were taking to her fairly well, and a few more of her shots made their way onto the social media accounts.  
Between the four of them, they were doing their best to help dispel the rumors swirling around herself and Michael. Calum has taken it upon himself to tweet photos of Ginny posing with AJ, and Luke was playing reverse paparazzi with his phone, tweeting out pictures of her taking his picture. Ashton retweets a few shots, but mainly stays quiet. Michael is barely hanging on to his façade, but he manages to tweet some of her shots, only captioning them with, “Talented girl, Ginny is,” and “Friends make the best photographers.”  
It isn’t enough to get people completely off their backs, but it is enough to explain what she was doing there. For now.  
\--  
They’re squeezing in quality time together wherever they can. She comes to the studio, adding more pictures to her collection of the boys, and she wins them over completely the first night she invites them all over for dinner. She’s pulled out a favorite recipe of hers and spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen prepping it. She’s entirely nervous, because she wants them to like it. She hasn’t cooked for Mikey, yet, and she wants it to be perfect, but at the same time, she realizes that she’s cementing her place with the boys with this meal. She also knows that they eat an unhealthy amount of pizza, and if it’s up to her, they’ll consume something nutritious and not from a take out box more than every once in a while.  
They pour in from recording just as she’s straining the rice, and she has to admit that she’s a little worried about all four of them with their abnormally long limbs fitting into her little kitchen. But Michael comes in and kisses her cheek, assuring her that everything smells great and they’re excited to eat. Calum and Luke grab the plates and silverware off the counter and begin to set the table, and Ashton pulls out a bottle of wine from behind his back and hugs her tight.  
“It all looks fantastic, Ginny. Relax a bit, okay? We love you, and we’re incredibly glad you’re with Michael. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t,” he whispers in her ear. And she finally relaxes.  
By the time they’ve eaten all of the food she’s made and still come up somewhat hungry, she is almost rethinking feeding them all. As it turns out, she almost didn’t make enough food despite doubling the recipe. But there are cheers of approval when she whips out a container of ice cream, and a mad dash to the kitchen with dishes when she calls out, “Whoever can load the dishwasher first gets priority on the ice cream!”  
This is the first night he stays with her. She is terrified, since they aren’t exactly officially together, but she finds some kind of peace in watching him get ready for bed in her bathroom, padding around in his bare feet and brushing his teeth while she takes off her makeup.  
She jumps slightly when she feels his arms wrap around her waist, and relaxes as he buries his face in her neck. It’s lucky he’s holding her up when he starts to press kisses into her neck, right near her pulse.  
“Thank you, so much, for making dinner tonight. It was really sexy to see you putting it all together…”  
She turns in his arms, and he knows the way to the bed at this point. They don’t go far tonight, but it is enough to cement how they feel. In this moment, they are solid, normal, and steady.  
She wakes up with a weight across her waist, and she still can’t quite believe that he’s here. With her. But he kisses her good morning, and she pushes the thought out of her head as she decides that this is definitely her favorite place.  
\--  
He asks her to come with him for the summer tour at the same time he asks her to be his girlfriend, right after she graduates from college. She agrees hastily, but the roadblock comes when they realize that they aren’t ready to take things public just yet. What they have is theirs, and it’s too new for anyone to have any say in it.  
She feels as if she’s facing the tribunal when he brings her to the boys to ask for their opinions. Ashton is quiet, but he’s taken his own route in terms of relationships. Calum just showers her with hugs and doesn’t offer much in terms of advice.  
It is Luke who comes up with the solution.  
“She’s good at photography, yes?”  
Michael nods, and Ginny blushes.  
“Then it’s simple. She’ll come along as the official photographer. It’ll be easy enough to explain why she’s there, we’ll get someone we trust taking pictures of us, and she won’t have to hide from anyone.”  
Michael is the first to tweet about their ‘new photographer’, naturally. He posts a picture of her taking Luke’s photo during rehearsals, captioned, “She’s here to make us look good this summer.”  
The responses are instantaneous, and largely overwhelming. If they thought that the dating rumors were big before, things were overwhelming now. A few people were hitting the nail on the head. “MICHAEL YOU ARE BRINGING YOUR GIRLFRIEND ON TOUR.” “GUYS GINNY IS ON TOUR THIS SUMMER WHAT DOES IT MEANNNN.” “CALUM IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND ON TOUR WITH YOU #DOGSANDSMILES” “LUKE TWEET MORE PICTURES OF YOU TWO TOGETHER.”  
She tweets out a statement. “Nothing better than getting to do what you love all summer long with some of your best friends. :)”  
Her mentions are flooded with some of the candids people had gotten of her with the boys, some with her camera and some without. The ones that scare her are the ones of her dangerously close to Michael, tucked under his arm, smiling at him a little too fondly, and him reaching out to touch her face. People are suspicious, especially now.  
\--  
Touring is like no other thing she’s ever done. Every night is a different place, with new energy and adventure. She’s allowed unlimited access to the venues, and she’s constantly being stopped while she’s trying to take pictures by fans for selfies. She doesn’t want to seem rude, so she takes as many as she can, but Michael had started to insist on a member of security going with her after she ended up with a black eye and a ripped shirt one night after getting caught in a mob. Her boyfriend’s protectiveness is sweet, but these are things he can’t save her from because of who he is.  
She interacts as much as she can each night, tweeting her favorite shots (which more often than not focus on Michael), and answering funny questions about how many pizza boxes were in the trash tonight, and whether or not she can pick a lane to stay in for her photos. Apparently, the ones she took were causing little traffic accidents.  
Even with the excitement of touring, there are growing pains in their relationship. Mainly in that she is unforgivably horrible with video games, and that he can often be found cuddling with his band mates. But there are ways around that, and they find a solution in her bringing a book or her phone to the couch on the bus, and swinging her legs into his lap while he kills some monster or the other, occasionally running her fingers through his hair, murmuring “Good job, baby,” while stealing a kiss. They are finding what works, and she can’t remember ever feeling this happy.  
Michael is elated that she’s happy, and that she’s there. But the summer is going by far too fast for her liking, and she’ll have to go home sooner or later so that she can start her first year of teaching.  
\--  
Her end of the tour is drawing near as July starts to come to an end. Things couldn’t be better between them, and he is on top of the world. He decides he wants to take things public after she comes out of the back of the bus wearing her Clifford 95 shirt, and he looks like it's Christmas and his birthday rolled up in one. She's wearing his name, and it looks so good on her. If he could, he'd rewrite his own lyrics to say that she looks so perfect standing there with his name on her back without a care. An idea strikes him.  
"What if I got one with your name and year on it?"  
She giggles. "What, and risk the whole world finding out about me? Twitter is already buzzing. If I didn't have my camera and photo pass, we'd be dead meat, Mikey."  
He laces their hands together and brings hers to his lips, kissing the back of it softly. "Would it be the worst thing if they did?"  
She blinks. "You want to go public?"  
"Yeah. This is something I'm proud of. You're someone I'm proud to be with. I'd like to share that with everyone."  
His eyes plead with her. His other hand working its way under the hem of her shirt and to the small of her back doesn't hurt his case, either.  
"It's just... I'm just me. An elementary school teacher from the south who doesn't have tattoos, or piercings, or anything desirable. Half the time, I’m going to be at home while you're on the road so I can follow my heart and teach. I'm boring and quiet and not very exciting. They'll tear me to pieces once they figure out I’m not just your photographer."  
"I won't let that happen, Gin. You're too important to me. I just want to let everyone know that. If you'll let me..."  
He plants a soft kiss on her cheek, and her resolve melts.  
"If I can plan it, then I guess it's fine."  
\--  
He's got his very own baseball shirt emblazoned with the birthday two years before his own and her last name plastered above it. He's gleeful, and he's dyed his hair her favorite shade of purple for the occasion. She comes out of the back of the bus in her Clifford 95 shirt, and Calum coos at the adorableness of the situation. He positions his SnapBack on her head, and grins at her. They are matching, cheesy as hell, and shaking with anticipation of what they are about to do.  
"Are you sure?" she asks, biting her lip.  
"I love you. I'm completely sure."  
She gasps quietly. It's the first time he's said it, and it's the first time she's heard it since her ex. He loves her. And she loves him. That knowledge makes any of the doubts about taking things public vanish as she leaps into his arms, hugging his neck and whispering into it that she loves him, too. She hears the faint click of an iPhone camera, and she's glad that Calum is there to capture the moments. She'll want to remember these later.  
Once she's returned to her feet, they face Calum, ready to let the world know what's going on between them. In about a minute, she won't be the mysterious tour photographer always found close to his side anymore. People will know. She's his girlfriend. Michael and Ginny. Michnny #otp #confirmed. Her whole life is about to turn on its axis. She grabs his hand for dear life, and he squeezes it in return. They turn around, hands still intertwined, and Calum takes the picture of their backs. With shaking fingers and a grin the size of Alaska, Michael reviews it and deems it worthy of social media.  
"Wanted to officially introduce you guys to my girlfriend, Ginny... :)"  
And the tweet is posted. She almost wants to throw up as the notifications pour into her account. The hate she expected is there, but with a larger portion of love and excitement than she thought was possible.  
She sits on his lap as they scroll through the congratulations, and he continues to murmur the three little words that make it all okay. Those three little words give her the courage to quote the tweet to her own profile.  
"Well... He's kinda hot, though. ;)"  
They are public. And they are in love. She is on top of the world, and when he kisses her neck, she feels like she's flying.  
The others come in to high five Michael and kiss her cheek, proud that they're finally sharing their happiness.  
\--  
The madness is still happening on their phones as the night wears on. Michael has procured champagne from somewhere unknown, and insists on toasting their newfound public status.  
"You make me so happy, Ginny," he whispers, stroking her cheek. She leans into his touch, absorbing the love she finds there.  
"Show me how much."  
And she is quickly escorted to the back of the bus.  
\--  
Saying goodbye is the hardest part. While it’s been a challenge to be in a public relationship, there’s a huge amount of freedom in not having to hide. She can kiss him whenever she likes, and the only thing that comes of it is an overwhelming amount of heart-eye emojis. She’s got more photos of the two of them together than she could ever dream of, and she’s toured the whole country over the span of a few months. It’s been the summer of a lifetime, but she’s got to face reality and go home.  
She hugs each of the boys goodbye once they’re inside the airport. There’s a distinctive tug on her heart as they pull away, and she knows that she’s going to miss the lanky weirdos that have been present in her life. She doesn’t notice when Luke slips a couple extra things into her carry on, but she does notice the kiss he presses to her head before heading off toward his gate.  
That may be because Michael’s face is breaking her heart into pieces. He’s looking at her and she almost decides to abandon her contract and stay with him forever, but she’s got to be stronger than that. She’s got to be her own person and do what she’s dreamed of doing for the past four years.  
She holds his face in her hands as he presses his forehead to hers. A few of his tears mix with her own, and she breathes in deeply to try to offset the hurt that she feels.  
“It’s only a couple months,” she whispers, trying to ease the transition. He nods and pulls away slightly before going back in, scooping her up into a kiss that defies all description. It is an I love you, an I’ll miss you, and an I’ll be back soon all wrapped into one. And she’s never felt anything like it.  
“Soon, baby,” he whispers into her hair, kissing it once more before they have to go their separate ways to the gate.  
She looks back to see him looking smaller than she’s ever seen him, and her heart breaks more, knowing she looks the same way. But she puts on a brave face, popping in her earbuds and playing his songs to provide some kind of comfort as she boards her flight back home.  
She goes to take her laptop out on the plane so she can feel sad and edit some photos of the boys when she finds 4 envelopes with her name on them, one small keychain penguin, a tiny stuffed dog, a mix CD, and a velvet box the size of her palm. She opens the first letter, smiling as she makes her way through sloppy boy handwriting to find some laughter from Luke splashed into words wishing her good luck with her new classroom. Calum’s focuses on asking her if he can come visit her dog and whether or not she thinks she can fit in some minor mending if he ships it home to her. Ashton throws in a few kind thoughts to go with her CD track listing, telling her these should get her through a few months of being deprived of his amazing musical tastes.  
Michael’s letter is last. She tries her best to not spill hot tears on it when she realizes he’s bought her a plane ticket for her fall break so that she can come spend a few days with them, and included her all access pass. His letter is filled with words telling her how much she means to him, as well as wishing her a good start to the year. His letter instructs her to open up the box she’s been eyeing, and she tears up again as she sees a small piece of paper folded up in the center of a gorgeous platinum charm bracelet.  
“Ginny,  
I love you more than you realize, and being away from you is already the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I wanted you know that I’m leaving my heart with you. So I put together this bracelet to help you remember me until I see you again. The first charm is a coffee, for the day we met. Next, an apple for my favorite teacher. A camera for one of your passions. A guitar for mine. A 95 to remind you of the fact that I’m always going to want to show you off. A plane so that you know I’m never too far away. A heart because you hold my own. And a key. Because I’m hoping that you’ll move in with me once I’m home again from tour.  
You’re everything I wanted, baby. Even if you hate video games on principle. You’re incredibly kind, smart, talented, and driven. I’m the luckiest man in the world to have you by my side.  
Soon, baby.  
Love,  
Michael.”  
She fingers the charms, each one holding a different meaning to their relationship. She stops on the key, admiring the antique style and relishing in what it means for them.  
She takes out her phone and texts a picture of the key in her hands, with one word attached: “Yes!!”  
\--  
She’s settled into a routine for life, now. She gets up to teach, checks Instagram for tour updates, likes a few, drinks some coffee, and records a good morning video message for Mikey whenever he wakes up. She teaches her first graders, drops them off at the lunchroom, and watches the video he sends in return, texting back and forth for a few minutes before she has to collect her class again. She calls him on her drive home, and they catch up on their day, him telling her about the new state they’re in, whether the tour dog has done anything funny, and what they’ve got up their sleeve for the evening ahead. She tells him about her students that day and what they’re doing, tempting him with what she’ll cook for dinner, and reminding him that she’ll eventually cook for him, too. Before the show, they’ll Skype while she makes dinner, and he’ll FaceTime her while she falls asleep. It isn’t an ideal situation, but it’s what they have for now.  
Her birthday is coming up, and he’ll be halfway across the country. He assures her that he wishes he could be there, but it’ll be a traveling day that he can’t miss.  
The morning of her birthday, she sends her usual morning message, and checks Twitter to see a deluge of tweets to her. They warm her heart a little, but she gets nothing from Mikey. There is no usual text message in the middle of teaching, and she’s more than upset that her message hasn’t even been read. Her students have colored drawings for her to cheer her up, but she’s still wishing he would at least acknowledge her in some way.  
She is in the middle of introducing subtraction on the board when one of her students gasps loudly. She turns around, sure that there is a nosebleed or something similar to be tended to, only to practically cry when she sees a familiar face in black skinny jeans and a tasteful flannel standing in her door with two dozen yellow roses and a grin that rivaled the size of Texas. He’s taken the care to dye his hair a natural color so that he won’t look like a bad influence for the students, and he is here.  
She flies into his arms, tears soaking his shirt, and he kisses the top of her head. “Happy birthday, baby. Did you really think I’d miss it?”  
She dries her eyes and he drops a kiss onto her head. He lays the flowers on her back table and scoops up her house keys. “I’ll see you at home this afternoon, okay?”  
Her students are all smiling at her, and she’s suddenly feeling extremely grateful that the end of the day is close.  
He’s sitting on the couch in her apartment when she gets home, looking like he belongs there. She crawls into his lap and peppers kisses all over his face, still in disbelief that he’s actually here.  
“Weren’t you supposed to be traveling today?”  
“And miss your birthday? Absolutely not. I’ve been arranging this for months.”  
He still smells exactly the same, and his hands still stir up a current in her body as they trace over her hip.  
He’s put a bottle of her favorite wine in the refrigerator to chill, and he’s bought the ingredients for the meal he’s heard so much about from her.  
“I know it’s your birthday, and I should probably take you out, but since I’m here… Will you cook for me, love?”  
They’re very lucky that no appliances are actually on and ready to cook, because they are about to get reacquainted with her bedroom together.  
He tweets out his birthday message along with a picture of her in his shirt and a pair of leggings, making dinner in her apartment. “Couldn’t imagine a better way to say happy birthday to my girl than to surprise her. I love you, Ginny.”  
He considers just how lucky he is when he sees her struggling with a piece of the best homemade pizza he’s ever tasted, onions and mozzarella falling out of her mouth, and he knows then and there that this is home.  
\--  
He’s back on tour, but the boys are glad to see that he seems like himself again after his little excursion. He’s got a makeshift calendar taped to the wall of his bunk, and while it isn’t labeled, they all know it’s counting down till she joins them on tour.  
It’s Luke who gives into missing her first. He tweets out a picture she didn’t know he had taken of her cooking, tagging her in it. “Wishing Ginny was here to make us some food… She’s a wizard in the kitchen.”  
She smiles, favoriting it, and laughs as the other boys bandwagon on the tweet. She promises to FedEx them some cookies if they’ll quit whining, and they seem appeased for the moment.  
Ashton is surprisingly next. He tweets out a photo she had taken from behind his drum kit, simply reading, “Missing this one’s squeal’s of excitement from getting a good shot.”  
Shooting from behind Ashton was one of her favorite places, since she could get the whole venue in one glance, but she didn’t know he actually ever realized she was there.  
Calum follows, and unsurprisingly, it includes her dog. He had met her goofball of a boxer when they were in Atlanta, and had naturally bonded with it, taking a million pictures and sneaking him treats. “Bruno, tell your owner to bring you to visit me!” the Instagram reads.  
But it is Michael’s way of letting the world know that he misses her that brings her to tears. She is catching up on the previous night’s concert footage when she comes across a video. Michael is sitting on the edge of the stage with an acoustic guitar, and he’s got on what appears to be his baseball shirt with her name on it. He’s got the microphone pulled down so he can talk, and the words he says make her feel the separation even more acutely than she ever has before.  
“So, most of the covers that we do, you guys are used to hearing. But there’s this girl… (the crowd started cheering) And she’s got my heart back home with her in Georgia. And before I mess this up by saying something stupid, I just wanted to cover one of her favorite songs by our good friends in State Champs. So, because I miss her, and there are two weeks left till I see her again, this is If I’m Lucky.”  
He launches in to a gorgeous cover of one of her favorite songs, and she cries a little as she fingers the guitar charm on her bracelet.  
“Soon, baby,” she whispers to herself.  
\--  
The LaGuardia airport is one of her least favorite things in the world. She is spoiled by Hartsfield-Jackson, since its status as the biggest airport in the world means that its interior and exterior are virtually spotless. But at this moment, she could care less about the grungy floors and excess of people. She’s in her favorite city in the world, and less than a minute from reuniting with Michael. She can hear the roar of the city as she glides down the escalator, and her whole body feels like it’s thrumming with anticipation.  
She sees a sign that simply says, ‘Baby’ being held by a tall man in a dark hoodie, snapback peaking out from the hood and earbuds looped around his neck. She might be on the lateral opposite side of the country, but she finally feels like she’s home as she sprints the final distance into his arms. He holds her tight and lifts her off the ground slightly, swaying back and forth before placing her back down and kissing her soundly. She is finally, finally here, and things couldn’t feel better than to be back in his arms.  
There are a few fans milling around, and they stop so that Michael can take pictures. It’s a cold October already, and she’s wrapped up in his jacket that he put on her after he caught her shivering, making sweater paws and inhaling the cologne that she’s missed so much.  
He puts her bags into the back of the car that their management team has rented, and as she opens the door, she’s greeted with three familiar faces attacking her with hugs.  
“Oh my gosh,” she manages to squeeze out between Calum hugging her to death and Luke ruffling her hair. Ashton just presses a kiss to her cheek before retreating to the very back with his own girlfriend.  
Michael hops in and shuts the door, gathering her in his arms as they head off to the hotel. He laces their fingers together, gently tracing the veins on the back of her hand, and kisses her head. Being together has never been so sweet as right now.  
They’re dropped off at the venue so that the boys can get a feel for the place where they’ll be performing for a few nights. They take off in various directions, half groaning about the punishment runs they’ll have to take in the thing with their trailer, and half getting excited about the acoustics. Ginny is taken aback by the sheer size of the place. Thousands of people will be lining the walls soon, and it’s intimidating.  
A pair of hands wrap around her waist as she cranes her neck back to try to take it all in. She traces the visible bands on his forearm as he snuggles into her.  
“So, the schedule is a little tight today, but we’ve got a few hours before I have to be back here for sound checks and meet & greet. I thought we might could catch up a little bit? You’ll have some time to get ready for tonight, and I heard about this really great restaurant near the venue that I was thinking about sending you to for fun. Then you can walk over and watch from side stage so I can see your face all night?”  
She giggles at the fact that he’s planned it all out for her. It’s endearing that he’s spent time making sure she’s taken care of while he does his job.  
“That sounds perfect. When can we check out the hotel room?” she asks, sliding a hand up his chest before engaging in a kiss that probably isn’t decent. That fact is confirmed by the wolf whistle coming from the speaker system, and they look up to find Luke holding a microphone and wagging his eyebrows at them. Ginny turns a bright shade of red, and Michael just smirks, flipping off his friend and finding the nearest member of their team to take them on back.  
As it turns out, Egyptian cotton sheets feel ten times more luxurious than regular ones, which makes it ten times harder to leave them for the evening ahead. As Michael slips into his meet & greet outfit, she’s fairly certain that she’s headed straight for a nap as soon as he leaves the room.  
In fact, that’s exactly what she starts to do until she receives a text from Michael telling her to throw on something comfortable for her surprise that should be arriving in her room soon.  
A knock on the door signals the arrival of whatever that is, and she’s more than excited to see Kelsey on the other side of the door.  
“He sent me with instructions to make you look hot, love. Ready to get started?”  
By the time Kelsey is done with her, she has messy waves worthy of a rockstar’s girlfriend, smoky grey eyes and pale pink lips, and one of the greatest casual chic outfits she’s ever seen. She’s got black moto booties paired with ripped black tights, a silver sparkling pencil skirt, and a cozy grey sweater topping things off. She wonders why he’s sent Kelsey to get her ready, but then she realizes that this is the first concert she’s going to as just his girlfriend, and not as the band photographer.  
She throws her all access pass, phone, and room key into her little black clutch, and is more than ready to meet the night ahead. But first, she wants to make one last stop.  
\--  
It’s been a while since she’s just watched a concert, and this one is one for the records. They are on fire in New York City, and every chord they strike is passionate and excited. It doesn’t hurt that the crowd is as high off the energy of the show as they are.  
She’s caught up in watching Michael do what he loves, and it continually strikes her as some kind of magic to see him light up even more when she catches his eye. She feels infinite.  
He dedicates her favorite song of theirs to her tonight, and blushes as the crowd roars with realization that she’s there. She really isn’t sure how they ended up here, but she’s grateful for every second of it.  
She’s wrapped up in a sweaty hug as they come off stage after their encore, and she knows from experience he’s headed toward a shower before heading back to the hotel.  
He comes back smelling clean and dripping wet hair onto her sweater. Her stomach fills with butterflies as she gets ready to show him her little project for the night.  
He collapses on the bed in their room almost immediately, pulling her down with him. He nuzzles her neck before starting to slide his hands under her shirt, stopping when he feels familiar plastic wrap around the left side of her ribcage. He cocks an eyebrow at her curiously as she lifts her arms over her head, inviting him to take off the sweater and have a peek.  
He gently uncovers her skin to find fresh ink swirling under her heart. In script matching his own, she has gotten her first tattoo, simply reading, “…And back.”  
He kisses it softly, smiling against the hot and irritated skin.  
“Just for me, baby?”  
“Just for you.”  
It’s still incredible to her that they’ve gotten this far together, but this tattoo is her promise that they’ll continue to figure it out.

**Author's Note:**

> we could have a domestic as crap part two. if not... well, this is cute.


End file.
